southlandrevelationsfandomcom-20200215-history
Matthais Donaldson
Young, sociable, charismatic, and most would say beautiful, Matthais Donaldson is just what one would expect of Clan Daeva. He is also the public face of the Court, serving as Prince LaCroix’s Herald, a role in which he excels. Whereas the Prince is often seen as an aloof, somewhat frightening and somewhat of a bastardly cut-throat of a figure, Matthais is a charmer and a skilled speaker. Laid back and almost carefree at times, he has the uncanny knack to make others relax in his presence. This is a skill, enhanced by his own proficiency with Majesty, that has served both the Herald and the Court well. However, this has also led many to prefer the ear of the Herald to that of the Prince. Between thetwo To those in the know, however, Jocelyn Marsh and Matthais Donaldson are in fact good friends (or at least as much as any two Kindred ever are), and are both part of what the Carthians refer to as the “Old Guard,” a sometimes affectionate and sometimes disparaging title given to the covenant’s oldest members. The carefully choreographed performances of “carrot” and “stick” that Prince and Herald enact are, in fact, all part of a larger plan. By presenting the image that her Herald has usurped her authority, Jocelyn Marsh has kept her enemies off guard, and few suspect that the knife in their backs was delivered by her hand until too late. Personally, Matthais is a much different man. Also one of the elder members of his covenant, in his breathing days he was actually of the upper class. It was the Great War, in which he was an eager participant (at first), that changed his views on life forever. Shocked by the carnage, and wounded in battle, Matthais returned home, his world shattered. Desperately seeking something, anything, to believe in, he turned his attention and his wealth to the plight of the common man. In his role as spokesman, and some would say traitor to his class, Matthais at last found an outlet for his passion. Passion that impressed his sire, who brought the young man over in 1919. In death he sought to continue his work, though in a different arena, joining the Carthian Movement almost immediately, where he quickly became one of its rising stars. Speaking out against the Invictus, pressing for the rights of neonates, and preaching the necessity of change, Matthais both made himself a target and made himself a name. Even more amazingly, Kindred began to listen. In fact, his friendship with Jocelyn Marsh, which began in the twenties, actually inspired the Nosferatu to join the covenant herself. With the realization of his efforts, and his friend upon the throne, Matthais sees a bright future ahead, if the situation in the present can be stabilized. Although a creature of passion, Matthais also possesses a unique wisdom, and knows that as Rome was not built in a day, this city of fallen angels cannot be transformed overnight.